Police officers back domestication of VAPP act

Police officers in Bayelsa State have expressed commitment to the domestication of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP) in the state.

They spoke at a one-day training of men and officers of the Bayelsa State Police Command organised in Yenagoa by the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), a Port Harcourt-based non-governmental organisation.

The training was supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria.

According to the officers, who took turns to speak at the event, the VAPP was a vital legal instrument in the fight against violence and protection of lives and property in the society.

The police officers, therefore, promised to ensure that the VAPP was domesticated in the state.

The officers, who were drawn from different police divisions under the command, called for cooperation by members of the public on useful information and urged victims not to hesitate to report incidents of violence.

Officials of the CEHRD, David Vareba, Queen Agba and Marsha Nwanne, who co-facilitated the training, stated in their separate remarks that it was aimed at drawing the attention of law enforcement officers to the need for the Act to be domesticated in the state and to prepare their minds on how to use it as a weapon for curbing gender-based violence in the society.

They noted that the level of gender-based violence in the state such as rape, wife battery, female genital mutilation, among others, was alarming.

They further pointed out that the situation required concerted efforts by security personnel and stakeholders to tackle the menaces using the Act as a tool in protecting citizens from violence.